PCB printers (was Whither goest DOS?)
Posted by
Russell Shaw
on 2002-01-25 04:11:51 UTC
Ian Wright wrote:
*colour* (not the older black-only ones) inkjets with the *genuine*
transparency was superior to any others. (and i'm not employed by epson)
The main reason for blackness (no pin-holing) and sharpness, is
that the epson transparencies have an absorbing gel coating. I
can get far better quality with a first generation stylus colour 400
than a current 1400dpi inkjet of another brand. All the other
printers use 'sand-paper' transparency (has rough coating).
For 0.5-1mm tracks, any printer will do. I'm doing 0.1-0.2mm
tracks and spacing a lot tho. The blackness makes exposure
non-critical (i can expose from 3-15mins and get consistant
results). The price of epson ink and transparency is pure
extortion, but you make the transparency last by only using
small pieces when you need it.
>I did comparisons between various printers, and found epson stylus
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Russell Shaw" <rjshaw@...>
> >
> > BTW, lasers are the most useless pieces of crap for doing
> > fine resolution PCBs. Also, i've found postscript (don't know
> > if it's the pc software or the printer) has some rounding
> > error problems, so that pad and track coordinates get
> > printed out with slight errors.
>
> Hi Russel,
>
> I too use an inkjet printer for producing the odd PCB but I found I got
> better results by using two copies of the layout - I print one mirror
> imaged - both with registration marks, and then tape them together, ink
> sides facing. Doubles up the density of the ink.
*colour* (not the older black-only ones) inkjets with the *genuine*
transparency was superior to any others. (and i'm not employed by epson)
The main reason for blackness (no pin-holing) and sharpness, is
that the epson transparencies have an absorbing gel coating. I
can get far better quality with a first generation stylus colour 400
than a current 1400dpi inkjet of another brand. All the other
printers use 'sand-paper' transparency (has rough coating).
For 0.5-1mm tracks, any printer will do. I'm doing 0.1-0.2mm
tracks and spacing a lot tho. The blackness makes exposure
non-critical (i can expose from 3-15mins and get consistant
results). The price of epson ink and transparency is pure
extortion, but you make the transparency last by only using
small pieces when you need it.